Three of us board members have been behind prison bars for ministry; one on the inside, two from the outside. After years of prayer we are heeding God’s call to develop a SDA transition home ministry for prison parolees. When we presented our plan at a meeting of SDA business men, doctors, lawyers, pastors, supporters, prison ministers, and conference and union leaders, we received a resounding unanimous thumbs up.
This goal is not too big for our God. There may be giants, but, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” Numbers 13:30. God even had to tell Moses in Numbers 11:23, “Is the Lord’s hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.” God will answer us because we are asking for things that are His will. He has written to us about them. Our goal to begin with: A home or two on a farm zoned country property near town, for housing, and in order to do organic farming for therapy and jobs.
Yes, God has told us to live in the country, that agriculture is the ABC’s of true education, but where does it talk about a transition home? Isaiah 58:7 clearly speaks of, “bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?” Read on and you will see that prison parolees are cast out of prison and that they are very poor. Maybe you could call a transition home a refuge for those who are pretty helpless for a period of time.
While in prison inmates are provided a bed, meals, a job, rehab, education, counseling, a church, and a permanent address. What do they have when they parole? It is very difficult for parolees. They are anxious for the present and fear the future. They are shunned by society due to fear of them. Some have lost family members while in prison. Finding work is hard due to their record. They may have skeletons in their closets, or owe someone money from past bad deals, which could endanger their lives. Going back to old neighborhoods makes it easy to fall into old ways. They need a stable address, and without an income, references, or a credit rating, it is impossible to rent their own place. There are not an over abundance of transition homes to go around, and those that are faith based hold 1st day beliefs. Our Bible study contacts can easily drift to spiritual confusion. There are also many other SDA prison ministers in our State who need a place they can recommend to their prison Bible study contacts who parole.
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